Guerrero: One year since the arrest of the CECOP leader, Marco Antonio Suastégui

Photo @Pueblo Guerrero

Members of the Council of Ejidos and Communities Opposed to the La Parota Dam (CECOP) protested on 17 June at the offices of the Judiciary in Acapulco, where they demanded that authorities from the three levels of government immediately release their leader Marco Antonio Suástegui, alleging his innocence, with this being the reason they will not rest until he is free. Marco Antonio Suástegui, who has been imprisoned for a year, founded the Communal Police in the Common Lands of Cacahuatepec, and for years he opposed the La Parota hydroelectric dam project. Upon the completion of a year since the arrest of the CECOP leader, the Tlachinollan Mountain Center for Human Rights urged the Superior Tribunal for State Justice, based in Acapulco, to resolve the three appeals that have been presented against the prison sentence. The organization denounced that the Tribunal “has delayed its decisions on the appeals for no reason, thus prolonging the process.” It also said that the motions against imprisonment demonstrated violations to due process, including the fact that, at the time that Suastégui declared himself, he was not allowed to have an attorney present.